Democrats were for a wall before they were against it

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the meeting was "constructive" and that the group attendees "listened to one another and now both have a good understanding of what the other wants".

Both chambers are now planning to stay in session over the planned Martin Luther King Day recess next week, given the bad optics of skipping town amid the shutdown.

The longest-ever government shutdown is a result of the bitter political divided over birder security issue as the Democrats who now enjoy majority in the House have refused to approve a legislation approving Dollars 5.7 billion in federal funding to construct a wall across the US-Mexico border.

House Democratic leaders said they did not tell members to boycott Trump's lunch but had pressed those invited to consider whether the talks would be merely a photo-op for Trump.

In a publicly released letter, Mr. Trump told the new House speaker he is postponing her trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan "due to the shutdown". They will not be paid for time worked since the shutdown began in December until the situation is resolved, said the notice.

The president, on a conference call with supporters Tuesday, showed no signs of backing down.

The White House announced that Trump has signed the bill in a brief statement Wednesday afternoon as the partial shutdown dragged into its 26th day. An Air Force bus is now sitting outside House offices, waiting to take lawmakers to the airport.

Later this year, Congress and Trump will have to renew the government's borrowing authority or face the first federal default, which many believe would batter the economy.

About 25% of the federal government has been shut down since December 22, the longest such shutdown in U.S. history. "But the last time I spoke to him was when he threw a temper tantrum and walked out, and we haven't heard from him since then", Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday afternoon.

Translation: "I hear what you're saying, but I bet they'll buy those two sandwiches". John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican.

The first lady hasn't been seen in public since she joined President Donald Trump to visit USA troops stationed in Iraq on December 26.

Separately, a bipartisan group of senators is also now talking about a way out of the shutdown, but hopes are slim in the Senate that they can reach a solution that the president will endorse.

Presidents traditionally deliver their State of the Union messages at the invitation of the House speaker, although as Pelosi notedin her letter, until the Wilson administration most simply sent written messages to lawmakers. A White House official told CBS News that Pelosi and other members of Congress were scheduled to leave for the trip shortly after 3 p.m. CBS News correspondent Ed O'Keefe reports Pelosi and her staff were preparing to load buses that would take them to Andrews Base for the trip.

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